Intelligent Support System for Healthcare Logistics 4.0 Optimization in the Covid Pandemic Context

Abstract

The covid pandemic points out inconsistencies and points to improve in the organization of healthcare logistics. Indeed, the dangerousness and the propagation process of the virus imply to increase health security (patient and personal health). In this context, healthcare logistics flows require a new and safety organization improving the hospital performance. The purpose of this paper consists in optimizing healthcare logistics flows by solving problems associated to the internal logistics such as reduction of the personal health wasting time and the protection of both patients and personal health. Then, the methodology corresponds to the use of the hospital sustainable digital transformation as a response to healthcare flows and safety problems. Indeed, social, societal and environmental aspects have to be considered in addition to new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoTs), Big data and analytics. These parameters could be used in the healthcare for increasing doctor, nurse, caregiver performance during their daily operations, and patient satisfaction. Indeed, this hospital digital transformation requires the use of large data associated to patients and personal health, algorithms, a performance measurement tool (actual and future state) and a general approach for transforming digitally the hospital flows. The paper findings show that the healthcare logistics performance could be improved with a sustainable digital transformation methodology and an intelligent software tool. This paper aims to develop this healthcare logistics 4.0 methodology and to elaborate the intelligent support system. After an introduction presenting the common hospital flows and their main problems, a literature review will be detailed for showing how existing concepts could contribute to the elaboration of a structured methodology. The structure of the intelligent software tool for the healthcare digital transformation and the tool development processes will be presented. An example will be given for illustrating the development of the tool.